Open Street Maps or OSM is a collaborative mapping project established in 2004
OSM is a great resource for open, rights-free geographic data.
However, data coverage and quality varies
Ideally, you should still aim to use reliable data from governments or other sources
Data in OSM is saved under different geometry types
The tags within these geometries describe the attributes of the features shown
A very useful guide for how to use OSM can be found at: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org
Similarly, the following guide explains how to extract data from Open Street Maps: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Downloading_data
Using OSM data can prove cumbersome
One alternative is to use OSM pre-processed data
One good source for pre-processed OSM data is: http://www.geofabrik.de
In this class we will use OSM data to deal with a hypothetical scenario.
Let’s assume that we represent a consulting company in Rome that helps intenations students find suitable accomodation in Rome
Within this hypothetical scenario, we will use a series of GIS operations:
Imagine the following hypothetical scenario
Mark is an exchange student from the US and he will be at JCU for a whole year.
Here are Mark’s specifications for the ideal appartment:
living 1.5km (0.93 miles) away from JCU.
living 0.7km (0.43 miles) away from the Vatican.
living 0.5km (0.31 miles) from a bank.
This is very interesting realistic scenario.
Step 1: Let’s first identify where JCU is
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Buffers are polygons around input features to a specified distance.
Step 2: Let’s create the 1500m buffer around JCU
Step 2: Let’s create the 1500m buffer around JCU